Heart of Darkness Outline

Outline

Thesis: Racism is present in Heart of Darkness when comparing the European people to the African people.

Reason: When entering the jungle, Marlow sees how savage and inhuman the African people can be compared to the Europeans.

Example: When Marlow goes to the jungle, he sees how the Africans live, how the kill and corrupted Kurtz, tells how they are evil. He sees them kill and attack, the evil that they spread around the jungle.

Example: "When one has got to make correct entries, one comes to hate those savages--hate them to the death."- Tells how everyone hates the savages, how they ruin the jungle.
“They were dying slowly—it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were not criminals, and they were nothing earthly now— nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation….”- Tells how they think of the Africans, how they are diseased and evil.

Reason: In the novel, Conrad de-humanized the African natives and portrayed them metaphorically as the dark, dangerous jungle.

Example: Conrad makes the Africans out to be uncivil savages. He shows the comparison between his version of a civilized European and the African savage who’s bent on killing.

Example: "The horror! The horror!"- When he dies shows his opinion on the life in the jungle and the people their, how the world is corrupt.
"And this also... has been one of the dark places of the earth."- Tells how the jungle is thought out to be the darkest place on earth, were the Africans live.